Introduction

• Japan is an island country located in Asia on the Pacific

Ocean
• It is bordered by waters all round;
o West - Sea of Japan
o South – East China Sea
o East – North Pacific Ocean
• It has over 3000 islands however there are four main
ones: Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, Hokkaido
• They are the major fishing grounds in the country

Image: Location map of Japan

 Geographic features
• Central Japan is the highest at 3193m (Mt Fuji) and slopes
outwards towards the seas and oceans
• It is largely mountainous(volcanic) with little arable land
• There are very few plains and those that exist are nestled
between the mountains

Image: Location map of Japan

 Japan’s utilization of land
• Due to it’s topography much of Japan is forest with less than
half the land utilized for other uses
• The people utilize the sea as main source of food.
• Japan consumes 12% of the world’s fish.
• Therefore, fish is a staple in the Japanese diet causing them to
be the #1 importer of fish in the world.

Image: Pie chart demonstrating the land utilization in Japan

 Culture
• The Japanese language is based off four different forms:
o Kojiki
o Kanji
o Hiragana
o Katakana
• There exist two predominant religions: Shinto and Buddhism
• Their national sport, sumo, is a traditional sport that emerged
during the Edo period
• Judo and karate are also traditional sports of Japan.
• The flag symbolizes the sun in the red disc
Image: Japanese flag
Time Periods of
Japan
A Brief History
 Paleolithic period
(before 10000
• BC)by the Ainu from Southern China and
Japan is occupied
subsequently by Tungusic from Korea
• They are hunters and gatherers
• Stone tools are crafted for hunting and inland fishing
• They live in caves and rock shelters as well as superficial portable
structures made from animal skins
• The basic premise of the garden is derived from the purity of the
physical structure - short mountains rising abruptly from the sea.

Images:
Japanese natural landscape
Mammoth hunt, (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Archeology)
 Jomon Period
(1000 BC – 300
•
BC)
Named after the pottery that characterizes the period
• Jomon means cord-marked derived from the rope patterns
impressed on pottery
• Developed pottery for storage of food and water
• The people still hunted and gathered but moved to the coastal
lowland due to warming climate
• The territory marked by there settlement and hunting ground was
known as Niwa (wild nature)

Images:
Jomon earthenware vessel, Japan
Jomon settlement reconstruction, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan
 Yayoi period
(300 BC – 300
• Named afterAD)
the district in Tokyo where artifacts were discovered
• The people fully shifted to agriculture thus they developed a
sedentary lifestyle
• Increased contact with China and Korea brought in bronze
and iron casting
• Built storehouses with raised floors to preserve the food
• Their surroundings were termed as Sono which encompassed
their housing and restructured landscapes.
• Thus nature controlled by man

Images:
Yayoi period settlements and agricultural land
Restructured land for agriculture
 Kofun period
(300 AD – 538
• AD)
Named after the large burial mounds for aristocrats
• Keyhole kofuns were especially for the aristocrats
• They were buried with grave offerings known as
Haniwa
• The imperial household was established
• Shinto religion emerged and was upheld by the
aristocrats
• It was a polytheistic religion where they worshiped
of different gods, kami.

Images:
Haniwa of a warrior
Artist’s impression of a keyhole kofun
 Kofun period
(300 AD – 538
• AD)
The imperial household encouraged
immigration from China and Korea
• The immigrants introduced irrigation, weaving and
sericulture
• Two distinct pottery styles emerged: Haji and
Sueki
• Segregation between the rich and the
slaves/poor through housing, pottery and clans.
• Emergence of palatial housing and fences around them
• No distinct garden had emerged at this period but some of
the principles and techniques were rooted here

Images:
Amaterasu Omikami, sun goddess
Sue ware pottery
 Asuka period
(538 AD – 710 AD)
• Began with the introduction of the Buddhist religion,
Scythian and Persian influence had reached it’s maximum
• The Buddhist Soga clan took over the government in 587 and
controlled japan for nearly 60 years
• In 645, they were overthrown in a coup launched by prince Naka no
oe and Fujiwara no Kamatari, from the Fujiwara clan
• They devised the Taika reforms which called for land reform
• It nationalized all land in Japan, demanding that it be equally
distributed equally among cultivators
• Art embodied themes of Buddhist art.
• In 607, Buddhist temple of Horyu-ji which was commissioned by
Prince Shotoku
• It is the oldest wooden structure in the world
Image: Horyu-ji temple
 Nara Period
(710 AD – 794 AD)
• The government constructed its new capital at Heijo-kyo
• There were a series of natural disasters: wildfires,
drought, famines, disease and a smallpox epidemic in
735-737 that killed over a quarter of the population
• Emperor Shironu (724-749) feared his lack of religion
had caused the trouble
• This increased promotion of Buddhism and he
constructed the temple Todai-ji
• It houses world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha
Image: Todai-ji temple Vairocana
 Heian Period
(794 AD – 1185 AD)
• The Taira and Minamoto clans, acquired large armies and
many shōen outside the capital.
• The central government began to use these two warrior clans to
suppress rebellions and piracy.
• ART AND CULTURE
• The imperial court was a vibrant centre of high art and culture.
• Literary accomplishments include the poetry collection
Kokinshū and the Tosa Diary, The Pillow Book, and Tale of
Genji.
• The development of the kana written syllabaries was part of a
general trend of declining Chinese influence.

Image: Art from the Heian period illustrating rising aristrocat culture
 Late Heian Period
(794 AD – 1185 AD)
• In the late Heian period, Pure Land Buddhism gained
popularity
• It promised its devotees a spot in the Western paradise of the Amida
buddha
• Gardens were built to resemble the Buudhist paradise named Paradise
Gardens
• They were meant to symbolize Paradise or the Pure Land (jodo).
• Islands and bridges were symbolic of the stages of life in passing
from the world of earthly pleasures to that of eternal faith
• The ponds were often constructed in the shape of L, their character
for heart or kokoro
• No complete pure land exists but Uji Byodo-in temple and Hiraizumi
Motsuji temple preserve major elements of the garden type
Image: Kyoto Imperial garden’s bridge
 Kamakura Period
(1185 AD – 1333 AD)
• Short period of Japanese history that marks the governance
by the Kamakura Shogunate officially established in 1192
• The period is known for the emergence of the samurai and
Image: Daibatsu Buddha establishment of feudalism in Japan
• A culture of war developed due to the strong resistance of the
military families and the Shogun.
• The warriors of the military families (samurai) took to the new
introduced Zen Buddhism
• Most forms of art adopted a strong local character, less
influenced by Chinese art
• The art was mostly religious designed to reach and inspire
the uneducated masses
• An example of this is the Daibatsu Buddha

Image: Warrior sculpture

 Muromachi Period
(1336 AD – 1573 AD)
• The period marks the governance of the Muromachi Ashika
shogunate, which was officially established in 1338.
• The Japanese renewed contract with the Chinese Ming
Dynasty and thus continued their old system of tributaries
• There was renewal of Shinto which had died and totally absorbed
into Buddhism becoming known as Dual Shinto
• After the unsuccessful raids by the Mongols a chronicle was
written reinforcing the concept of the Emperor as a Deity and
the country’s superiority over China and India.
• This period ushered in a renaissance of Chinese-style ink
painting
• The Zen sect of Buddhism, which enjoyed a growing
popularity in he early Kamakura period, received the continual
support of the new rulers
• Ink painting was accepted as a means of teaching Zen doctrine
Images: Ink style paintings
Literature on
Gardens
 Sakuteiki
• The earliest known edition is the “Senzai Hissho” by Tachibana Toshitsuna.
• The Sakuteiki was written in the Heian period and is the first book ever
written about Japanese garden making technique.
• It is a compilation of rules that were codified so that designers could create a
successful garden.
• The book outlines principles used in garden design as well as how to use
waterfalls, pools and lakes, steams, stones etc
• The purpose of the ideal garden is to evoke nature in its primal form
• The presence of good and evil is heavily present in the Sakuteiki due to the
influence of Chinese culture in Japan
• Stones must be carefully chosen and arranged, since their composition will
influence whether they bring good or bad luck.
• It was apparently partly due to such beliefs that symmetry was avoided.
• It also suggests that water should flow east, then south, and finally to the west.
Image: Sakuteiki book • This is done to flush out evil influences preventing disease and epidemics to the
garden owner
Types of Japanese
Gardens
Shinden, Paradise, Zen, Strolling
Tsuboniwa, Hermitage, Tea
• The gardens were entered from the Eastern side nikkamon(sunflower gate) and on the western side gekkamon (moon
flower gate)-a recollection of the temples of the sun and moon found outside the gates of Chinese cities.

• A gravel covered plaza in front of the building was used for entertainment while one or more pavilions extended out
over the water.

A - The Shinden
B – Fishing Pavilion
C – Spring
Pavillion

Image: Typical Heian period

 1. Pond Garden/ Shinden Gardens
• Noble estates around the then capital city of Kyoto contained Shinden gardens.
• The properties had high walls around them often a solid, tapered wall made of rammed earth with the garden about 1.2
acres which was about 1/3 of the site.
• The garden was a flat area to the South- Southern Court/’nantei’ which was covered in sand, for aesthetic and spiritual
cleanliness but to also allow for a variety of garden events(cockfighting, festivals, performances etc)-
• Houses and gardens were aligned in the NS axis respectively.
• The central component was a large pond located next to the residences.
• A brook that fed into the pond often passed underneath raised floors connecting the buildings with the water.
• The garden’sassymetrical borders were punctuated with sand, flowers and trees to create a sense of formality for elegant
events without using symmetry.
• Alongside the pond and brook, they also featured islands and waterfalls as water was used extensively in the garden.
• The ponds were used more for boating and had at least one central island which was connected to the shore by one or
more bridges.
• Nature was incorporated extensively- including animal life, deciduous tress and perennial plants which changed through
the seasons.
• Only a few remaining ponds exist today.
Image: Typical Shinden-Zukuri estate
 2. The Paradise Garden
• They are characteristic of the late Heian period
• These gardens display a strong Chinese and Buddhist influence
• The paradise garden aptly named jodo teien presented the palatial pond garden of Amida Buddha that was believed to be
far west at the rim of the world.
• The gardens were commissioned by nobles of the Amida Buddhism sect which comprised of aristocrats and monks
• The sect thrived mainly due to belief of the Buddhism prophecy that an age of darkness and ruin (mappo) would occur
after 1500 years of Buddhist law,thought to be the mid-11th century/late Heian period.
• Shukamani Buddha described the gardens awaiting those who call on Amida as beautiful gardens having shady trees
with glittering palaces set among terraces and lotus ponds.
• The gardens thus were to symbolize Paradise or the Pure Land (jodo) where Buddha sat on a platform contemplating a
lotus pond
• The aristocrats mainly commissioned these gardens as an attempt to accrue much needed good karma as the believed it
was the end of the world.
• This was the basic premise of Pure Land Buddhism which promoted attainment of Paradise through direct supplication
to Amida Buddha himself.
 Features of the paradise garden
• A lake island in the middle, nakajima
• A large pond with lotus flowers, enchi, which represents the lotus pond in the
original paradise where the dead were reborn
• Arching bridges connecting the island to shore to symbolize the potential for
salvation
• The bridges had to be curved to allow boats to pass underneath them
• Curved bridges were common where boat parties would be held on the ponds
• A Buddha hall on the island that houses the sitting Buddha looking out into
the lotus pond
• Trees and seasonal flowers within the garden
• The use of seasonal flowers was to show the cyclic nature of life from birth in
Image: A Byodo-in temple’s bridge
spring and death in winter.
 Byodo-in Temple
Uji, Kyoto
• It was originally a rural villa for a high ranking courtier called Minamoto no
Shigenachi
• It was bought, upon his death, by a powerful Fujiwara, Fujiwara no
Michinaga and subsequently converted to a Buddhist temple by his son
Fujiwara no Yorimichi
• It features the main hall, Hoo-do(phoenix hall) that houses a large statue of
Amida Buddha and a reflecting pond which symbolize the Pure Land
Paradise of Amida Buddha.
• A jodo shiki garden is located in front of the Hall
Image: Byodo-in temple • The members of the family would thus sit across the pond to the east and
look west at the seated Buddha imagining themselves reborn in Amida’s
Western paradise.
Image: The front of the hoo-do with the Amida Buddha’s head visible Image: The jodo shike garden in front of the Phoenix hall

Image: View of the garden from the island Image: Pond surrounding the island on which the Phoenix hallsits
 3. Japanese Rock Gardens/ Zen Gardens
• Courtesy of the ongoing conflicts, gardens became more protective, withdrawn, tightly enclosed and introverted.
• These gardens create a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, ‘water
features’, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and uses gravel or sand that is raked to represent ripples in water.
• A zen garden is usually relatively small, surrounded by a wall, and is usually meant to be seen while seated from a
single viewpoint outside the garden, such as the porch of the hojo, the residence of the chief monk of the temple or
monastery - meant only for viewing and not strolling.
• Classical zen gardens were created at temples of Zen Buddhism in and were intended to imitate the intimate essence
of nature, not its actual appearance i.e abstraction and to serve as an aid to meditation about the true meaning of
existence.

• The abstraction was achieved through stone arrangements, shaping shrubs as well as raking gravel and sand.

• In most gardens moss was used as a ground cover to create ’land’ covered by forest.
• The selection of rocks is very important.
• Gravel was used more than sand because it is less disturbed by wind and rain.
• The gravel was raked into a pattern recalling waves or rippling water, ‘samon’ or ‘hokime’ has an aesthetic
function as well as being an activity the Zen priests took part in to help their concentration.
 Dry Rock Garden-Karesansui
Ryoanji, Kyoto
• There are fifteen rocks set in moss plates amidst a sand court.
• A clay wall surrounds the garden and when constructed, distant
hills could be seen over the walls – borrowed scenery – but the
trees now obstruct the hills. The wall does not function as a
barrier to the outer nature.
• The interior of the Ryoanji temple is open to the Karesansui garden for
its viewing.
• Seasonal changes of the greater nature can be seen together with the
dry rock garden, creating a harmonic atmosphere for meditation

Image: Ryoanji temple

Images: Karesansui rocks arrangement and raking of gravel
 4. Tea Gardens/ Roji
• During the late 12th and early 13th century, the ruling class in Japan became enamored with Zen Buddhism and the
ritual of the tea ceremony.
• The ceremony was a formal affair in which tea leaves were ground down and steeped in a bitter broth, which people
then passed around in a common bowl.
• These ceremonies took place in minimalistic gardens that helped create a calm atmosphere for meditation.
• Tea gardens are constructed with simple rustic materials to maintain harmony with the atmosphere and they center
on the ceremonial tea house.
• Made from natural materials, these structures blend into their surroundings and are accessed by a path that symbolizes
the journey into a more peaceful state of mind.
• Tea houses are entered through low doors to humble an individual upon entering.
• The houses are enclosed by an outer entrance garden where participants wait for the ceremony to begin and a sacred
inner garden that is not entered but only observed and contemplated from outside its perimeter.
• The outer garden contains several lanterns, a water basin for people to purify themselves at by washing away sins
and a bench for resting.
 5. Promenade/Stroll gardens
• These gardens appeared in Japan in the Edo Period at the villas of nobles or warlords.
• The gardens reflected the wealth and intellectual prowess of the garden’s owner.
• These gardens were designed to complement the houses in the new Sukiya-zukuri style of architecture which were
modeled after the tea house.
• The gardens were on large properties and were often approximately 50,000 to 100,000 square meters or larger and
comprised of large strolling gardens with ponds, islands and artificial hills.
• They were to be viewed by following a path around the lakes which branch off from one carefully composed scene to
another.
• They employed two techniques to provide interest: ‘borrowed scenery’ and ‘hide-and-reveal’.
• The gardens stressed on aesthetics above all other functions e.g religious functions which were controlled under Edo
regulations and played a meagre role in being a force in the arts.
• The views were controlled so that while one strolled in the garden along a meandering path, one went from one scene to
the next as if moving through the layered backdrops of a stage set.
• They reflected the peace in the country with very soft shorelines, undramatic stone settings and softly curved hills.
• The gardens also feature recreations of famous scenery or scenes inspired by literature and history;

• Suizen-ji Garden in Kumamoto has a miniature version of Mount Fuji

• Katsura Villa in Kyoto has a miniature version of the Ama-no-hashidate sandbar in Miyazu Bay, near Kyoto.

• Bridges were an essential element of the design as these gardens were more often than not arranged around a water
body/pond.

• Farmlands and religious sites were incorporated into the garden itself with farmlands often left as such and cultivated
not only for the produce but also for pastoral vista. The religious sites added a new, social dimension to the garden.

• After the inclusion of religious sites in the gardens, such gardens became open to the public.
 Koishikawa korakuen garden
Tokyo
1. In (Yin) Stone 12. Plum Orchard
2. Lotus Pond 13. Pagoda
3. Yo (Yang) Stone 14. Engetsu-kyo stone bridge
4. Chinese-style gate 15. Teahouses
5. Horal Island 16. Tsuten-kyo bridge
6. Boat Deck 17. Kannon
7. Pine Meadow 18. Little lu-shan
8. Tea House 19. Oi River
9. Paddies 20. Folding Screen rock
10. Arbor 21. Togetsu-kyo Dike from the
11. Yatsuhashi, Iris & Wisteria Western Lake

Image: Plan view of Koishikawa korakuen stroll garden

Image: Layout of Koishikawa korakuen stroll garden
 16

Image: Arbor Image: Pond of Koishikawa-Korakuen Image: Tsuken-kyo bridge

14

Image: Engetsu-kyo stone bridge Image: Plank bridge Image: Tokujin-do temple

Image: Wisteria Image: Walking trail with view of seasonal trees Image: Naitei (inner garden)
 6. Tsubo-niwa Gardens

• Are gardens in a small, enclosed area.

• These small gardens were originally found in the Heian period

and palaces and later on were in modern homes.

• The tsuboniwa were prized for their intimacy.

• Tsubo is a unit of measurement i.e 3.31m / two tatami mats.

• There are four types of Tsuboniwa gardens:

• Centre Tsubo-niwa

• Edge Tsubo-niwa

• Corner Tsubo-niwa

• Image Tsuboniwa

Image: Tsuboniwa (pot garden).

 • Court yard gardens were also found in Zen temples and samurai

residences due to the styles favoured by priests and warriors

• In the Momoyama Period, they were built more by the

chonin(townsfolk) with the confines of their

Image: Courtyard garden

machiya(townhouses) and omoteya(display stores).

• Gardens at the entrance of shops are referred to as

miseniwa(shop gardens).

• Tsuboniwa gardens are all small and intricate each type serving

a different function where used.

Image: Rocks and water used in a tsuboniwa

 Centre Tsubo-niwa
• Exist at the centre of the house.

• They opened the dwelling to the sky while maintaining

privacy(bringing the outside into the interior) and provided
architectural focus for the same.
Image: Centre tsubo-niwa garden
• The house revolves around the centre with rooms on all four sides facing
inward.

• The central tsubo-niwa also allows light into the building and provides
a view,

• In some cases. The spaces would have one tree at the centre with smaller
plats around it.

• Simplicity and functionality were highly considered,

Image: Aerial view of centre tsubo-niwa garden

 Edge Tsubo-niwa
• These are edge gardens that adjoin dwellings creating the dialogue
between interior and exterior spaces.

• They extend the dwellings to an external open space at the same

time creating a buffer against urban surroundings.

Image: Edge tsubo-niwa at the entrance • These was common of the machiya houses in Kyoto which are
rectangular houses that are deep in relation to their façade. They
incorporated long and narrow gardens running the length of the
property on one side.

Image: Edge tsubo-niwa at the fence buffering external surrounding

 Corner Tsubo-niwa
• They are arranged in a corner and are often tiny.

• They do not require a lot of materials or a sophisticated techniques

and are often seen a entrances, corners of rooms/patios or even at
corners of building facades.

• They fill in gaps, punctuate volume and create points of view at

Image: Corner tsubo-niwa
strategic locations

Miniature Tsubo-niwa
• It’s a small size garden that can be taken in at a single glance. They are
created as images and are often framed like a picture.

• Can be symbolic or purely compositional.

Image: Miniature tsuboniwa on a bowl
 7. Hermitage Garden

• A hermitage garden is a small garden usually built by a samurai or

government official who wanted to retire from public life and devote
himself to study or meditation.

• It is attached to a rustic house, and approached by a winding path,

which suggests it is deep in a forest.
• It may have a small pond, a Japanese rock garden, and the other
features of traditional gardens, in miniature, designed to create
tranquility and inspiration.
• An example is the Shisen-dō garden in Kyoto, built by a bureaucrat
and scholar exiled by the shogun in the 17th century.
• It is now a Buddhist temple.

Image: Shisen-do garden exterior view

 Elements of a
Japanese
Garden
Water, Stones and Rock, Lanterns, Fences etc
 1.Water

• The main purpose of a Japanese garden is to attempt to be a space that

captures the natural beauties of nature.
• They always have water, either a pond or a stream, or in the dry rock
garden, represented by white sand.
• In traditional gardens, the ponds and streams are placed according to
Buddhist geomancy and cosmology.
• They had lakes, stream, cascades, ponds etc with small islands in some
cases.
• If possible cascades were expected to face toward the moon so as to
capture the moon’s reflection on the water.

Image: Cascade at Nanzen-ji garden in Kyoto

Image: An island of weathered rocks and a single pine tree in Rikugi-en garden in Tokyo Image: An island in Koraku-en gardens, Tokyo

Image: Youkoukan Garden in Fukui Prefecture recreates a miniature beach and mountain Image: The spring-fed pond at Suizen-ji Joju-en garden
 2. Rocks and sand
• Essential feature of a Japanese garden.
• A vertical rock may represent Mount Horai, the legendary home of the Eight Immortals or Mount Sumeru of Buddhist
teaching, or a carp jumping from the water.
• A flat rock may represent earth, sand/gravel a beach or flowing water.
• Rocks also symbolize yin and yang; the hard rock and soft water complementing each other.
• Rough volcanic rocks ere used to represent mountains or as stepping stones. Smooth round sedimentary rocks were used
around lakes /as stepping stones. Hard metamorphic rocks are usually placed by waterfalls or streams.
• The rocks needed to vary in size and colour from each other but not be of bright colours(lacks subtlety).
• Groupings of natural rocks were frequently worshipped as iwasaka or iwakura, places where gods or sacred spirits
descended or lived. White sand or rope ties were often used to demarcate such areas.
• They were firmly planted in the earth- firmness and permanence with them arranged in compositions of 2/3/5/7 with
three being the common. In an arrangement of three, the tallest represents heaven, the shortest earth and the medium one
humanity: the bridge between heaven and earth.
• Other times rock could be placed in a seemingly random location in the garden: spontainety
Image: Shitenno-ji garden; three-rock composition at the centre
Image: Myoshin-ji garden

Image: Ritsurin garden Image: Tofukuji Temple

 3. Bridges
• First appeared during the Heian period.
• They could be made of stone, wood or logs with earth on top, covered with moss.
• They could either be arched or flat.
• Sometimes if they were part of a temple garden they were painted red , following Chinese tradition, but were mostly
unpainted.
• During the Edo period, when large promenade gardens became popular, streams and winding paths were constructed with
a series of bridges, usually in a rustic stone or wood to take visitors on a scenic view of the garden.

Image: Wood and stone bridge 'Suizen-ji' Image: Plank bridge in Koshikawa Korakuen Image: Nobori Huji Wisteria bridge at Tenshaen Garden
 4. Buildings
• In Heian-period Japanese gardens, built in the Chinese model, buildings occupied as much or more space than
the garden.
• The garden was designed to be seen from the main building and its verandas, or from small pavilions built for
that purpose.
• In later gardens, the buildings were less visible. Rustic teahouses were hidden in their own little gardens, and
small benches and open pavilions along the garden paths provided places for rest and contemplation. In later
garden architecture, walls of houses and teahouses could be opened to provide carefully framed views of the
garden.
 5. Stone lanterns and water
• The stone lanterns date back to Nara period and the Heian period used in the Shinto shrines.
basins
• In the Momoyama period they were introduced to the tea garden and in later times were used purely for decoration.

• Stone water basins were originally placed in gardens for washing hands and mouth before tea ceremonies. The water
is provided to the basin by a bamboo pipe and usually have a wooden ladle for drinking the water.

Image: Stone water basin Image: Stone water basin illustrating bamboo pipe for Image: Stone lantern
water supply
 6. Garden fences, gates and devices
• Japanese gardens are based on enclosures as the garden is to be a microcosm of nature, sealed from the outside
world.
• Fences and gates have a symbolic meaning as well as function.
• The fence insulates us from the outside world and the gate is a threshold where we discard our worldly cares or
prepare to face the world.
• The fence is also a tool to enhance miegakure(hide-and-reveal).
• Many of the fence styles offer only a mere screening and would be supplemented with a screen planting offering
ghostly hints of the garden behind.

Images: Bamboo fence Images: Garden gate

 7. Trees and flowers
• Plants were chosen for their aesthetic qualities:
 To hide undesirable sights
 Serve as a backdrop to certain garden features
 To create a picturesque scene
• Flowers are carefully chosen by their season of flowering.
• Trees are carefully trimmed to provide attractive scenes and to prevent them from blocking other views in the garden.
• Their growth is also controlled in a technique called, niwaki, to give them more picturesque shapes. Sometimes they
are constrained to bend to provide shadows and better reflections in the water.
• In the 16th century, an art developed of trimming bushes into balls and rounded shapes to imitate waves(okarikami)
• Very old pine trees are often supported by wooden crutches or their branches held by cords for support.
• Common species in Japan:
 azalea (tsutsuji), the camellia (tsubaki), the oak (kashiwa), the Japanese apricot (ume), cherry (sakura), maple
(momiji), the willow (yanagi), the ginkgo (ichō), the Japanese cypress (hinoki), the Japanese cedar (sugi), pine
(matsu),
 and bamboo (take).
Image: Okarikomi in Chionin Garden Image: Pine trees in Kenrokuen supported by braces

Image: Cloud tree at Katori Image: Ancient pine trees supported by cords
 8. Fish
• The use of fish especially nisiki-goi (coloured carp) or goldfish as s decorative element in gardens was a borrowed
concept from the Chinese.

• Koi are domesticated common carp that’s are selected or culled for colour.

• Used in the Ise Grand Shrine and Himeji Koko-en Garden.

Images: Koi fish and nisiki-goi used in various gardens

Influences from the
periods
 Language
• Japanese gardens have a balance between the natural and man-made beauty
• This balance is seen in the present day word for garden Teien from the alternate
pronunciation of Niwa and Sono (Tei and En)
• This represents the two opposing characteristics of wildness and control in the same
context of the garden
• Thus controlling the garden through this can invoke the sensory world of the Jomon by
a spiritual, aesthetic or intellectual expression.
 Religion
• The Shinto (native religion of the Japanese) is animistic in that rocks and plants have human qualities.
• The religion involves the worship of Kami grouped into ama-kudari kami (gods who come from above) and torai-
kami (gods who come from over the sea)
• The Japanese thus believe that places ie islands, waterfalls, prominent boulders etc in the natural landscape were
inhabited by them due to a particular spirit they held
• Thus they developed sacred stones (iwa-kura) for the ama-kudari kami and sacred ponds (kami-ike) for the torai-
kami. These sacred spaces were developed for communication with the gods, for prayers to them, appeasing as well as
enticing them to bless the people which was earlier done at the natural spirit places
 Iwa-kura
• They are found throughout Japan in hills near towns and villages
• The stones were delineated by tying straw ropes (shime nawa)
around it and purified by physically clearing them and in later years
covering it with a layer of sand or
• The shime nawa creates a kekkai, boundary zone, between the
secular world and that of the gods
• At first natural stones were used while thereafter stones were set
upright to create iwa-saka and stone circles

Images:
Iwa kura with shime nawa tied around
Shime nawa around a tree
 Iwa-saka
• This translates to god boundary and is made by placing twin
rocks side by side forming a gap between them
• Stone circle
• Pillar shaped stones are horizontally laid in a broad circular
shape encircling a central stone.
• The stones in this case act as the shime nawa to demarcate
the sacred area.

Images:
Shime nawa around iwa-saka
Stone circles
 Kami-ike
• The source of water for the ponds were natural springs
• The torai-kami were believed to reside on islands collectively
known as haha-guni (mother country or ancestral land)
• There are traditionally 3 islands, each with its own prime
goddess
• These islands were thus recreated by building islands in a
pond and later each island would have a shrine to honor the
gods.
• The natural and artificial extents of the kami-ike are uncertain
with the likely theory being deepening of existing ponds and
adding the central islands.
Image: Kami-ike
 • The two sacred places were primarily created for prayer rituals but
contained powerful components that would be brought forward in the
creation of gardens.
• Kami-ike represents planar and horizontal beauty originally the vast
surface of the sea.
• Its principle aesthetic is the 2 dimensional ground plane or
• fukanbi (bird’s eye beauty)
• Iwa-kura on the other hand represents sculptural and
volumetric beauty, ritai-bi
• It is thus a fundamental design technique to have the harmonic interplay
between planes (flat, raked sand, walls, and fences) and volumes (rocks
and clipped plants)
• Despite the imitation of the Chinese and Korean cultures in the Kofun
period, the Japanese garden designers maintained the animistic
expression of rocks, ponds and islands.

Image: Volumetric and sculptural beauty of

the rocks
Principles & Techniques
 Enclosure and Entry

• Enclosure creates spaces in gardens and necessitates entries both of

which are highly accentuated in the Japanese gardens
• They create threshold and passage which reflect and reinforce the
social patterns of the Japanese.
• They are a group oriented people who place much importance on the
groups they belong to, entry to these groups is thus of great
significance.
• Enclosure is more often than not utilized as a method of framing
• It controls how gardens will be viewed from the entrance and
within as well as to what degree the surroundings will be
incorporated.
• It also allows for viewing of the garden as an independent work of
art i.e kare-san sui of the Zen temple like framed paintings.

Image: kare-san-sui gardens of Meigetsu-in

 • Entries thus introduce gates that either connect the gaden to the
outside world or within the garden that divide the garden into a
series of layered spaces e.g stroll gardens of the Edo period daimyo
estates
• This creates a series of changing view that are revealed in
succession as one moves along the path
• The gates may be:
• Physical wooden gates (occasionally)
• A grove of trees
• A bend
• A rise in path etc
• Entries can also be symbolic as in the case of the tea garden
which it is a spiritual and physical entry

Image: Koishikawa Korakuen stroll garden, Tokyo

 Voids
• Related to spatial development
• Spatial voids are referred to as ma which can mean a space/void, a social space, physical space or space related to time
or a combination.
• It results from the events or objects that create and frame a void
• In addition ma represents the focal point itself.
• Ma can be created as:
• Physical space: experienced when moving through the garden
• Visual space: experienced in a contemplation garden and entered with the mind
• Time space: pauses created in movement through the garden to enhance one’s appreciation of it.
• Religiously, its also used to represent the concept of mu nothingness (Zen Buddhism)
• Aesthetically it represents the beauty of paucity (yokaku-no-bi)
 Balance
• In Japanese culture and gardens it is achieved through:
Asymmetry
Off-centredness
Triads

Asymmetry
• Derived from natural elements
• The contemplation garden is designed to ensure that it will not be
symmetrically balanced
• The balance is achieved through a hierarchical arrangement of
forms in which no single form is dominant
• This promotes a cyclical movement of the eye back to source to
begin meandering again.

Image: Contemplation garden, view is framed by an opening in the architecture


Image: Straight path with sightline meeting dead end
Off-centredness
• Avoids creating a single dominant foacl point in the garden especially
at the exact centre since it is seen as undynamic/overbearing.
• Straight path are used sparingly to avoid a central axial
relationship
• When used, the sight lines meet dead ends in a wall, hedge or include
an askew view of some element e.g gate.
Triads
• Entails use of triangular shapes
• Used to achieve visual stability
• It is used in various placements and arrangements within the
garden i.e
• Arrangement of rock groups and their relationship with each
other
• Symbolically represents Buddhist triad with the largest central
stone depicting Shaka or Amida Nyorai while the smaller two
represent their attendants (bosatsu)
• Pine trees are pruned into a pyramidal form
 Planes and volumes
• The relationship between 2D planar elements and 3D volumetric elements bring about an aspect of balance
• This stems from the harmonic relationship of Yin and Yang from the Chinese garden design
• The Japanese however use it both symbolically and aesthetically
• This technique is mainly employed in the flat garden, hira-niwa, style
• Partitioning of the ground plane is critical as success lies in the treatment of the ground plane (main plane)
• Other planar elements such as fences, walls and hedges act as frames for the garden by providing a clean
background for garden details
• The planar elements are also interjected between volumetric elements ie plantings and earthwork mound to
add depth to the garden through layering
• The counter play between the volumetric and planar elements creates a unified composition
• For example the kare-san-sui gardens where the stones and clipped shrubbery contrast the stark surface of
the raked sand, walls and hedges that enclose the space
 Symbology
• Gardens as an art form contain allusions to religious, philosophical and
cultural ideas
• The designer and client must therefore have a similar understanding of
symbols to comprehend meaning in the garden
• Gardens held metaphors of:

Religion
• The Japanese predominantly practiced Shinto and Buddhism
• The use of stones and ponds is derived from the sacredness of some
natural spaces in Shinto belief
• The use of triads symbolizes Buddha and his attendants
• The Paradise gardens eg garden at Byodo-in Temple of the late
Heian period symbolize a belief in Amida Buddha and the Buddhist
prophecy

Image: Byodo in temple, Uji

 Landscape images
• It involved a recreation of an extensive landscape scenery within a
small yard
• It could not be termed as a miniaturization as that would imply
reproduction rather than the symbolic use of elements to represent
natural vistas
• Mountain ranges represented by a group of upright boulders
• Ocean is represented by a sheet of white sand
• Windswept ocean bluffs are represented by pine

Life lessons
• The pine and the plum are used to symbolize eternity versus the
moment
• The pine which is evergreen and noble in shape symbolizes eternity while
the plum which blossoms in profusion only for the flowers to be scattered
by the wind represent evanescent aspects of life
Image: Japanese pine tree
 Borrowed scenery
• It is known as shakkei and is used for enlarging the visual scale of garden beyond its actual physical
boundaries
• This is through incorporating distant views as an integral part of the garden
• It derives from religious master planning of some Muromachi-period Zen Temples
• The head priest/advisor would expand the temple into the surrounding by naming 10 select landmarks in the
surroundings
• The names would contain a Buddhist message thus the landscape became imbued with Buddhist
meaning
• The technique however lost its religious quality during the Edo period
• Borrowed scenery was now used for its compositional quality based off the ink-wash landscape
painting of the Sung dynasty of China
• The landscape paintings featured:
 A scene of man in the foreground
 A majestic natural vista in the background
 A vague middle ground (clouds, mist) layered in between the background and
foreground
Image:Song Dynasty inkwash landscape painting
• The garden and vista was designed to be viewed from a fixed point like a painting usually a veranda overlooking the
garden
• In the design of the Shakkei garden:
• the background - already exists i.e a distant mountain, waterfall or large man made object such as sweeping temple
roof
• Foreground was the garden itself with a rarified palette like the paintings
• Middle ground was key to creating the garden as it skillfully eliminated unwanted details existing in between the
background and foreground
• It is used to create depth in the foreground while making the distant view appear larger.
• It also serves as a linking element to unify the distant view with the garden
Image: Shakkei garden borrowing scenery from the castle
 Mitate
• It is a Japanese word that translates into seeing anew
• The word was originally associated with the tea garden
• It involved finding a new use for an old object, mitate-mono
• Different materials could be used as mitate-mono i.e old roof tiles, stones used as bases of lanterns etc
• Old roof tiles were reused in the following ways:
• Creation of pathways when inserted vertically in groups or included as nobe dan
• Lining rain catches, ama-iochi
• As dust pits, chiri-ana, found in tea gardens
• Stones could be reused in ye following ways:
• Chozubachi of tea gardens - stone lavers in tea gardens where guests purified their hands and mouths
before entering the tea room
• As a form of punctuation by being interspersed among natural stepping stones
• nobe-dan utilized this by combining cut stones with natural stone into long rectangular sections of paving
Image: Nobe-dan Image: Chozubachi
 The path
• It applied kabu michiyuki
• This means that the movement of a person through space, is movement of a person through time
• The path was therefore created as a guide through the garden revealing it in a succession of layers while regulating the
timing of the experience as well
• Thus the path not only controlled what is seen but the cadence of viewing
• This was done through use of stepping stones in the tea garden
• The precariousness of walking on uneven stepping stones, tobi-ishi, forced the walker to look down and focus on the path
– the designer has stopped their view of the garden
• A larger stone at a junction or second path or a nobe-dan allowed the walker to stop and look around due to new found
stability and comfort
• This point was therefore chosen for its view
• The path also allowed the utilization of the mie-gakure technique in stroll gardens
• The technique involved the alternate hiding and revealing of a series of scenes
Image: Stepping stones
 Details vs Master planning

• The Japanese designed their gardens from the details up rather than down from the master plan as commonly
done in design today
• Gardens were more commonly designed as they were being built with a few cases involving inkbrush
sketches to give an idea of the sense of the garden
• The general plan however was present in the designers mind i.e dimensions, shape and positions of major
rock groups but subject to change on site
• The natural material were each chosen first based on their particular character that was unique to them
• Trees for example would be chosen for a particular end in the trunk or angling of branches
• All elements were then gathered together then set in place one by one
• The placement of each affects the overall balance thus subsequent placing factors in the elements in place
• Resetting of already placed elements was common to obtain a better overall balance.
 Conclusion
• Japanese gardens are a continuous evolution imbued with Japanese culture of all ages leading to the
achievement of gardens that are unique to this nation.
• However, the principles used in Japanese gardens can be utilized in other gardens to imbue it with
the balance of nature the Japanese have mastered
• Landscape in Japanese culture has always held a significance in its different religious sects and have
thus been evolved to fit into residential spaces as well for both functional and religious significance
• The essence of a garden, therefore does not take a back seat but is seen as equally important to the
design of places as the buildings that sit on the land
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 Earle, J., Hibi, S. and Toshitsuna, T., 2007. Infinite Spaces. Tokyo: Tuttle.
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https://heritageofjapan.wordpress.com/pacing-the-paleolithic-path/
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